Mall of America to celebrate 20th birthday with a 'Cake Boss' cake and free eats

The Mall of America will celebrate its 20th birthday with tons of good eats on August 11.

On August 11, 1992, the Mall of America first swung open its doors and became the nation's largest retail and entertainment complex, changing Minnesota forever.

Now, on this August 11, the behemoth mall will celebrate its 20th birthday with plenty of free eats, including a custom-made cake by Buddy Valastro, star of the hit TLC show Cake Boss.

The cake is an 8-by-4-foot, three-dimensional "model" of the inside of the mall. It was made with more than 50 pounds of flour, 450 eggs, and 250 pounds of fondant, and it took four days and seven people to create, according to MOA spokesperson Bridget Jewell.

Here is a rendering of the cake:

Photo courtesy of Mall of America.

A rendering of the Mall of America cake made by the "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro.

Because it took so long to make and, therefore, has been sitting for a while, the model cake itself will not be served. Instead, MOA will be serving 2,000 slices of a sheet cake made at Carlo's Bakery, Valasco's storefront in Hoboken, New Jersey.

"They're driving it straight through [from New Jersey to Minnesota], without making any stops," Jewell explains.

The cake will be served at 2 p.m. on August 11, along with 2,000 Schwan's ice cream cups. "Anyone is welcome to come," Jewell says.

Starting at 11 a.m. and leading up to the cake serving at 2 p.m., MOA will also be handing out these goodies: $10 Crave restaurant gift cards, $10 Twin Cities Grill gift cards, Lindt chocolate truffles, mini Cinnabons, Caribou Coffee sparkling tea and juices, and See's candy suckers, among others.

"It's a way for us to give back to people for supporting us for 20 years," Jewell says.

MOA is also hosting the second-annual Twin Cities Beer Fest in honor of its birthday. The festival will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. in the old Met Stadium parking lot on the mall's grounds. It will feature more than 500 samples from around the country and the world. Tickets are $55 for VIPs, $35 for advance tickets, $45 for a full day, and $10 for designated drivers.

Buffalo Wild Wings will host a hot-wing eating contest as part of the festivities.